Editor's note: this post first appeared on Hemmings Daily on May 23.

With the news that actor Roger Moore died earlier today in Switzerland at 89, we can think of no better way to memorialize him than to consider his best Bond car: a 1974 AMC Hornet X.

Of all the actors to have played Bond, Moore is the only one not to have spent any screen time (as Bond) in an Aston Martin. Instead, over a seven-film stretch, Moore is perhaps best known for a parade of atypical Bond cars, including probably more American cars than any other period in Bond history.

The Hornet – as depicted in 1974’s “The Man With the Golden Gun” – came about through a product placement deal with American Motors that also placed a Matador coupe and sedans (as well as an entire AMC dealership) in a Bangkok car chase scene that culminated in a version of Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory’s Astro-Spiral Jump, previously done with an AMC Javelin.

A fitting auto tribute to one of the best bonds.